Joyalukkas Group launches breast cancer awareness drive

Emirates Business

While breast cancer deaths in the UAE have declined by almost 10%, and late detection of the disease has gone down from 64% to 16%, there is a growing concern about the rise in incidences amongst women under 40 years of age. It is with this insight that the Joyalukkas Group has launched Joyalukkas Think Pink 2016, with the banner #Mom I Need You. The campaign is aimed at motivating all women, especially mothers, to conduct self— examinations diligently and regularly.
“When we took the ‘Pink Pledge’ in 2011,” says Sonia Alukkas, Director, Joyalukkas Group, “we put the strength of our entire network across 11 countries behind it and received an overwhelmingly positive response from over 10 million customers. Our commitment to raising awareness and preventing breast— cancer related deaths remains strong today, perhaps made even stronger because of the support of many health organizations and specialists in the UAE.”
The Joyalukkas Think Pink campaign, supported by the Dubai Health Authority, was launched in October 2011and has successfully increased awareness of the benefits of early detection against breast cancer with the cooperation of over 40 health organizations. To date, more than 40,000 participants have benefited from the campaign’s free breast screening facilities and community awareness activities.
“This year,” says Joy Alukkas, Chairman & MD, Joyalukkas Group, “we wanted to drive home the message that early detection saves not only the lives of women, but also that of their children. We are all aware of how devastating late detection of breast cancer can be for the victims, but sometimes we forget that it is the children whose mothers are diagnosed with cancer that stand to lose the most. ‘Mom I Need You’ is a heartfelt plea to all women to take care of them so that no child is left behind to suffer the consequences.”
#Mom I Need You comprises a month— long multimedia campaign led by newspaper advertisements
featuring children of UAE
residents and their personal messages encouraging their mothers to conduct regular self— examinations. Simultaneously, a viral video initiative will present what UAE mothers believe is the most important thing they do for their families’ vis— à— vis what their families think should be their priority.
“As a mother,” says Mrs. Jolly Joy, Director & Head of CSR, Joyalukkas Group, “my family is very important to me and the well being of my children is my priority. Sometimes they need to remind me to slow down and take care of myself too. This is the thought behind this campaign. A mother will never refuse a sincere request from her child. In the same way, we hope every woman out there would not ignore our reminder and they would set aside a tiny bit of time to conduct a self— exam so they can be with their children for longer.”
Children are the focus of this campaign, and they have the opportunity to send their personal message to their moms and encourage them to make an online pledge to conduct regular self— examinations via Facebook. In appreciation of the participants’ efforts, Joyalukkas is giving away a diamond set worth AED 2,500 to the best message posted.
And as in previous years, the #Mom I Need You campaign will be visiting schools, universities and communities with educational activities and free screening facilities, as well as health forums where women can discuss and get support against breast cancer.
To know how you can participate in Think Pink or to get more information regarding self— examination, visit: www.joyalukkas.com/ThinkPink